Danny L

Hi, A couple of plans online that might be of use. https://bmpt.org.uk/pnbpt_historic_boats/LCA-Landing-Craft-Assault-Fox-trot-8/fig_02.jpg https://www.nationalhistoricships.org.uk/register/2923/foxtrot-8 It might be worth contacting Boathouse No 4 at Portsmouth as they used to have a plan on display in front of F8 when it was inside the building just before it was restored. Regards Danny

Hi Rob, Another great model on the way. Below are some comments on a couple of things and a potted history on LCI(L) 98. Regards Danny Blue - Small derrick that needs adding - peculiar to "98". No bow anchor visible Portable anchor davit. It does not show up in many photos but the deck fitting for it does, a piece of tube about 12 to 18 inches high. Black - 2 masts, once again peculiar to the very early vessels with a third at the bow that I presume was there to rig an aerial. The main (aft) mast is surprisingly wide and robust Bow mast. “Antenna Pole Starboard for boats” 97 to 136. 161 to 187. 239 to 318. Orange - I intially thougth this was another depth charge but under higher magnification it's larger and appears to be an oil drum? “55 Gal gas tank”. Some carried more than one in the stern area. White - I've no idea what this round wheel shaped object is. ?emergency wheel - anyone got any ideas? Wheel. It could be a “spare”. Just above the rudders there is a “Steering Gear Room” and a large piece of kit (motor and hele shaw pump ?) with a wheel on it of a similar size. Red - there's an object on the covered deck gangway - no idea what it is ?? I initially thought that these hatchways were cloth as per the Fairmiles but they do seem to be solid. Oerlikon spare gun barrel box. It was supposed to mounted on the deck but some were mounted in this position. LCI(L) 98 LCI(L) 98 Left the USA towards the end of December 1942 and arrived in Plymouth in the middle of January 1943. One of the first LCI(L) to arrive in the UK. Remained in the Plymouth Command until the end of April 1943. While there she went to Appledore where a series of trials were carried out. In May 1943 she moved to the Portsmouth area and came under Force “J”. Temporarily attached to 200 LCI Flotilla. The rest of this Flotilla was made up of LCI(S). Still under Force “J” she sailed to Chatham at the beginning of August 1943 to be converted to a “Stand-by HQ ship”. The refit was completed on the 15th September and for a short period she was classed as a “Landing Craft Control”. She left Chatham around the middle of September and went to Southampton. After moving to Cowes in October 1943 she was reclassed as a “Landing Ship Headquarters”. LCH 98 was one of the first four LCI(L) to be converted to LCH. The other three were 167, 168 and 239. Still part of Force “J” LCH 98 moved a short distance to Portsmouth in February 1944. Around the 15th April she became part of “K” LCT Squadron, Assault Group “J” 1, Force “J”. On the 6th June she was operating off Nan Green Beach, Juno Area. The CO was Lt L.F. Stinton, RNVR and the 1st Lt was S/Lt F, Baines, RNVR. On board was Commander R.F.C. Struben, RN, the DSOAG Nan Green Beach. LCH 98 remained in Normandy until the third week in August 1944 and then returned to Southampton. At the end of October she became part of the Support Squadron Eastern Flank. Allocated to HMS Turtle. On the 1st November she took part in “Operation Infatuate II” as part of the Support Squadron Eastern Flank. By December 1945 she was back in Plymouth and part of 280 LCI(L) Flotilla, Plymouth Command. LCH 98 Sailed for New York in early January 1945 for redelivery to the USA arriving around the beginning of March 1946.

Hi, The “mystery” craft is LCF 1. Landing Craft, Flak (Mk. II) 1 was in 333 Support Flotilla, 1 Support Squadron, Assault Group J1, Force “J” in June 1944. Armament of LCF(2) 1 was two 4 inch mark XVI twin mountings and three 20mm Oerlikons. She was lost on the 17th August 1944 at about 06.30 hrs. The conversion from TLC 123 to LCF 1 started in 1941. She was the only one built with this armament. Regards Danny

Hi Rob, If you are going to model “375” then the bridge band colour should be green. She was part of Force “S”. Look forward to watching your build. Below is a bit of information on some of the markings used in Operation Neptune. Bridge Band Colours Force "S" - Green Force "J" - Red Force "G" - Blue Force "L" - Yellow LTIN White on a black background. From the naval orders issued for Operation Neptune (a document about three inches thick, for each force/beach): "Allocation of numbers to landing ships and landing craft 3. To reduce the numbers to be remembered by the troops embarking in landing ships and landing craft, it has also been decided that one code number only will be used for each landing ship and craft, which will cover both ship and craft number and Landing Table Index Number. This system will apply only in the assault and not in the build-up. 4. Blocks of numbers are allocated as follows: Force "S" - 100 - 999 Force "J" - 1000 - 1999 Force "G" - 2000 - 2999 Force "L" - 3000 - 3999 5. These numbers will be the Landing Table Index Numbers allocated to individual ships and craft as the result of detailed planning. For embarking purposes, these will be the only numbers with which the Army will be concerned. Each ship and craft taking part in the initial loading will be required to provide a suitable board showing its number, to be displayed on or near the bridge." If you want to delve into what Force individual landing craft were in there is a copy of the Green List dated the 5th June 1944 online. http://www.convoycu49-1944.com/files/ADM_210-8_RC1817359_GREEN_LIST_Landing_ships_craft_barges_-_Corrected_to_5th_June_1944_-_MASTER_BINDER.pdf Force “S” starts Page 21 Force “J” starts Page 27 Force “G” starts Page 38 Force “L” starts Page 43A Index to Landing Craft starts at page 94. Regards Danny

Hi, The body of the British Smoke Float Mk6 was Light Brunswick Green BS 225. https://fmfcoatings.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/BS6-1024x574.png The red band was about 2 inches down from the top of the Float. The markings were in white just below the red band. “Float, Smoke No 6” and “Not to be stowed between decks in H.M. Ships”. Regards Danny

Hi, There is a photo with LCVP 1226 on the IWM website. Right side of the LCVP group. A 24248 https://www.iwm.org.uk/collections/item/object/205156171 The colour of the small triangle on the ramp, in front/behind of the Pennant Numbers of the LCVP is black. This LCVP was in 805 Build Up Flotilla, “B” Build Up Squadron, Force “G” at the time of the landing in Normandy. Regards Danny

Hello Rob, No idea what the IWM online policy is regarding photos. They do seem to add the odd batch every now and then and the size of photos online has improved from a few years ago. The current IWM search engine is not very good in tracking down photos. It seems to throw up far too many results that do not relate to the search term that you enter, amongst other things. Sometimes you get lucky while looking through the results. Was looking for photos of landing craft in Germany and found this one the other day. A 31172 https://www.iwm.org.uk/collections/item/object/205162220 Ref the Lifebuoys. There is some good original colour film here showing them. https://www.iwm.org.uk/collections/item/object/1060029165 Reel 2/2. At 0.39 - ML - Yellow/Red, 1.45 - LCP(SY) - White, 5.05 - Launch - Yellow/Red. I have seen a Red/White one that came from a Landing Craft Support(Medium) in a museum. Regards Danny

“Many Thanks yet again for coming to the rescue of a naval modelling dullard!” Hello Rob, I would not say that. The information you were after does not seem to be readily available. None of the books that I have read had this information in them and neither could I find anything online when I wanted to find out about them. In the end I visited the archives. Did not get all the answers but enough to get a general idea and I am still looking for a photo of the smaller Taut Wire Measuring Gear. Enjoying your build greatly. Regards Danny

Hi Rob, It is looking really good. The “Flotanet” was a Pre-war design. They could be fixed to a point on the ship and unrolled down the side of the hull. Then they could be used in a similar fashion to the scrambling net to get into the water. The net would then be released and used as a floating device. You could sit on it with your legs through the net or lay across it. It came in four sizes. The 9ft X 20ft version was for 22 people. 10ft X 30ft was for 38 people. Below are some links to photos showing it in use at Walcheren in November 1944. They have not bothered to unroll it. A 26233 https://www.iwm.org.uk/collections/item/object/205187389 A 26238 https://www.iwm.org.uk/collections/item/object/205187392 The cork rings were about 4 inches in diameter. A 26243 https://www.iwm.org.uk/collections/item/object/205187394 A 26236 https://www.iwm.org.uk/collections/item/object/205187390 Regards Danny PS Photo of one unrolled here on canvas cover. A 26239 https://www.iwm.org.uk/collections/item/object/205187393

Hi Rob, This image is part of a larger photo. It is from the Canadian archives. Links below to the complete image. http://www.bac-lac.gc.ca/eng/CollectionSearch/Pages/record.aspx?app=FonAndCol&IdNumber=4950978 Title: Fairmile Motor Torpedo Boats, some from the 65th Canadian MTB Flotilla, alongside at Great Yarmouth - Norfolk. http://www.bac-lac.gc.ca/eng/collectionsearch/Pages/collectionsearch.aspx?lang=eng&q=torpedo+boat&start=0&num=50&DataSource=Images#1-25 There are some other photos online that might be of interest to you here http://www.bac-lac.gc.ca/eng/collectionsearch/Pages/collectionsearch.aspx?lang=eng&q=torpedo+boat&start=0&num=50&DataSource=Images Regards Danny

Hi, For D Day the standard camouflage pattern was used on most of the LCA. Some of the LCA that were at Juno and Omaha Beaches used a single colour. The official camouflage pattern is used on this LCA model here http://www.dantaylormodelworks.com/landing-craft-assault-10-p.asp The hull should be blue, B30, and white. The decks are dark grey, G10 or G5. There is a colour chart here http://www.shipmodels.info/mws_forum/viewtopic.php?f=16&t=167118 LCA that went to Omaha Beach https://www.flickr.com/photos/photosnormandie/8122642814/in/album-72157607254609563/ Juno Beach Regards Danny

Hi, There is another photo showing half of the lattice gantry and part of the bridge on the IWM website. It is photo A 23871, Officers transferring to an MTB from HMS Bulolo, the headquarters ship of Commodore C E Douglas-Pennant, naval commander of Assault Force G, 6 June 1944. Link to photo http://www.iwm.org.uk/collections/item/object/205155906 The photos of the Taut Wire Measuring Gear you show are of the Mk 1 equipment which was not the one used on the ML. The Mk 1 had 140 miles of wire and is a lot larger and heavier than the Mk 2 which had 9 miles of wire. Unfortunately I have yet to find any photos of the Mk 2 equipment. I have seen a couple that may show it in place but the equipment has a canvas cover over it so cannot be 100% sure. The Mk 2 TWMG is approximately 2ft long and 18 inches wide Photos A 10436, A 10449 and A 27052 on the IWM website show the Mk 1 140 mile TWMG in use. Regards Danny